Almost 50 per cent of men say shopping with their female partners has ended in an argument. Picture: Thinkstock

THE average man can tolerate just 26 minutes shopping with a female partner before becoming bored, a study shows.

Researchers in Britain found men are generally done with the experience within half an hour of accompanying their wives or girlfriends around stores, the London Telegraph reports.

The research supports the widely held belief that shopping is a pursuit favoured by women, although the survey also found women tire of shopping after a couple of hours if they fail to find anything to buy.

"'If men buy whatever they were looking for in one of the first shops they went into, it's going to get pretty tiresome going from shop-to-shop with their other half - especially if they are having to follow them into the same store several times," says Andy Oldham, Managing Director at the UK's biggest cashback site Quidco.com, which commissioned the research.

'"But it seems women also have their limit when they are in a busy shopping centre, just for completely different reasons - more down to being frustrated at not being able to find what they were looking for or leaving empty-handed."

The study of 2000 Britons found eight in 10 men found clothes shopping with their partner boring, with 45 per cent admitting they avoid shopping with their female partners all together.

One in four admitted they have abandoned a shopping trip and gone home alone after becoming fed up. One in three will sit outside a shop and wait. Almost 50 per cent say shopping together has ended in an argument.

Although 58 per cent of men will respond favourably to shopping if promised a treat at the end, women may want to rethink their insistence on companionable shopping trips with one in five men admitting to admiring other women in order to pass the time.

A NOTE ABOUT RELEVANT ADVERTISING: We collect information about the content (including ads) you use across this site and use it to make both advertising and content more relevant to you on our network and other sites.